The Woodbridge Hotel in Guildford, Western Australia, has been a much-loved part of the Guildford community since it was built in 1902.
Over 122 years and for several generations of Guildford locals it has contributed strongly to the development of the town’s sense of community and pride in its history.
The hotel holds a remarkable place in the story of the district, and was witness to the social transformations of the very early years of the 20th century.
The Woodbridge Hotel came to life just two years after the first four-wheeled car was driven in Perth, and 12 years before The Great War led to so many young lives from small towns such as Guildford being lost.
The Woodbridge Hotel was the last residence of three local young men from the district before they headed to Europe to serve in World War 1. Only one of them came home.
The town of Guildford, 12 kilometres north-east of Perth, was established in 1829 as a market centre for the surrounding agricultural areas, making it crucial to Western Australia’s trade and prosperity. The Woodbridge Hotel was an important addition to the town.
A report in the Western Mail on 25 December 1902 noted the hotel was “situated close to Woodbridge Station” and the landlord was Mr M.H. (Mitchell Henry) Grahame, “formerly of the Queen’s Hotel, Perth, and the Victoria Hotel, Subiaco”.
In the licence application in 1902 Mr Grahame was described as “a person of good fame and reputation”.
Mitchell Grahame advertised the hotel in The West Australian newspaper on 7 November 1902. “Only hotel at this charming suburb – between Guildford and Midland – is the Woodbridge Hotel, erected on a plan well calculated to meet all requirements of this rising and pretty locality.”
It boasted that “care was taken in selection of all beverages and accommodation will be found to be quite up to date”. It was “lit by Acotylene Gas” and had “Hot and Cold Baths”.
Mr Grahame launched The Woodbridge in October 1902 by inviting “a number of friends to the opening of the new hotel [where] a number of congratulatory speeches were made and wishes for the success of the venture were many.”
It wasn’t long before it was receiving favourable notices in the papers. On 25 December 1902 the Western Mail noted: “The whole of the hotel is lighted with acetylene gas. Hot and cold water are also laid on throughout the house and the ventilation is perfect. The billiard saloon is fitted up with one of Alcock’s best tables.
“Being built back from the street gives the house a semi-private appearance. The spacious balcony overlooks the Guildford Show Ground and a splendid view of Guildford and the surroundings may be had from it.”
It went on: “The whole of the building, fitting and furnishings, has been carried out regardless of expense, thus making this one of the most up-to-date hotels in Western Australia.”
From these reports it’s clear The Woodbridge was an excellent place to catch up with friends. By 1905 most of Western Australia’s grapevines were in the Swan Valley. It’s easy to imagine friends having a game of billiards and then repairing to the bar for a whiskey to discuss the farming or grape-growing.
But despite the warm reception to his hotel Mitchell Grahame didn’t stay long. In 1906 the hotel’s licence was taken over by Mrs Tom Doyle, a popular publican whose fame extended beyond Guildford, possibly because of the gold miners from the Kalgoorlie area who reports suggest may have frequented her pub.
“The name of Mrs Tom Doyle should by this time be well known to almost every Westralian,” noted The Sunday Times of Perth on 30 December 1906. “She is now conducting the Woodbridge Hotel at the popular suburb so closely in touch with Perth and Guildford. Her liquors and general fare [are] one of the best and many old goldfielders, particularly those from Kanowna, now in Perth, will find themselves heartily welcome.”
The reference to the miners from the gold town of Kanowna is fascinating and suggests possible links between the hotels in Guildford and those who worked the gold mines around Kalgoorlie in the late 1800s.
Gold had been discovered at Kanowna in 1893, leading to miners flocking to the district. By 1905 the town, 615 kilometres east of Perth and 22 kilometres north-east of Kalgoorlie, was home to 12,000 people, 16 hotels, two breweries and an hourly train service to Kalgoorlie.
When gold dried up and the railway station closed the town went into decline. Today it is a ghost town. A 2016 census reported 10 people living there.
A report in The Truth of Perth on 7 April 1906 noted Mrs Doyle was “ex-mayoress of Kanowna”.
Maybe the one-time miners, now living in Perth, who she may have known – or who knew her from the gold fields – dropped into Mrs Doyle’s Woodbridge Hotel in the early years of the 20th century.
It’s tempting to imagine them telling their stories over a few ales about their life during the Western Australian gold rush.
Mrs Doyle would certainly have made them welcome. She was, according to Perth’s Truth newspaper in an article on 31 March 1906, “an ideal hostess and has forgotten more of the beer trade than many… ever knew.”
Her pub is “conveniently located in a neighbourhood noted for the excellence of its supplies of dairy and orchard produce. On the whole, therefore, the Woodbridge Hotel should shortly ‘arrive’ with much eclat [social distinction] and proceed to boom…”
In 1912 the hotel was taken over by Mr Jabez Penn, a hotelier from London. “The Woodbridge Hotel has changed hands,” reported The Swan Express on 12 January 1912, “the new proprietor being Mr Jabez Penn, who has just landed from London. Mr Penn has considerable experience in hotels and for the past 18 years has successfully conducted hotels in various parts of London.”
It went on: “The new proprietor wishes it be known that all classes of catering will be carried out under his personal supervision.”
Jabez Penn was a popular local identity who ran an excellent establishment. On 20 December 1912 The Swan Express carried a profile. “The proprietor of the Woodbridge Hotel at Guildford came from London only a little over twelve months ago in search of health,” it reported. “It is pleasing to record that he has found it and he desires no return to the old country from Sunny Westralia.”
The writer noted that Western Australia wasn’t all that was sunny. “He is none of your lantern-jawed misanthrope, but a merry old soul who is ever ready to look on the best side of things. Old Penn’s motto is always merry and bright: ‘Never worry about tomorrow in case you die tonight’.”
“We know publicans whose looks are calculated to turn the beer sour, but Old Penn is not one of those and his cheery disposition has done much towards popularising the Woodbridge.”
Penn made considerable and much appreciated changes to the hotel which became a beloved community gathering spot.
The Swan Express on 27 February 1914 noted he is “determined to leave no stone unturned in his efforts to make his ‘house’ one that will appeal to all.”
Part of that was due to a new “extensive” lawn, building a new verandah on the south side of the building. “He has been well repaid for his labours, the whole scheme adding considerably to the appearance of the premises and surrounds and enhancing the comfort of callers at this well-known house.”
On 20 December 1912 The Swan Express praised Penn for his improvements including the lawn which was “a very important consideration where we have a climate which makes living out of doors during a great part of the year desirable”.
The lawn was so widely appreciated it was formerly launched “in the presence of a large crowd”, the Express reported.
“To add to the day’s interest the proprietor had arranged for a log chop and the contest was of considerable interest to spectators. Seven contestants faced the starter and an exciting chop resulted in a win for Weston who got through his little lot in 80 seconds.”
The chop was followed by a tug of war which concluded the contests for the day “but by no means ended the general fun,” the paper said. “That was maintained until a late hour. Additional enjoyment was lent to the proceedings by the presence of the Midland band which rendered a number of selections. It is the intention of the proprietor to hold periodical gatherings of a similar nature throughout the year.”
It wasn’t just the lawn that people loved. “Inside the hotel is well-lighted by electricity, the bedrooms are models of cleanliness and as a residential house the hotel is everything one could desire,” the Express reported.
As World War One reached into small towns across Australia from 1914, The Woodbridge Hotel has a fascinating connection.
Three local men – William Murray Kennedy, a 25-year-old stone mason, Horace Schofield, a 35-year-old labourer, and John Crump, a 30-year-old butcher who was also known as John Millgate – all who when signing up for duty gave their address as The Woodbridge Hotel, 50 East Street, Guildford.
It is likely all three were domiciled at the hotel before they embarked for active service.
John Crump, born in Kent, England, was known to the people of Guildford through his employ at Swan Meat Company. John fought at The Somme and at Gallipoli, including at Lone Pine.
John did not return to Australia. A notice appeared on 6 November 1917. “A tribute to our dear friend Corporal John Crump who was killed in action somewhere in France on June 8 1917, late of the Swan Meat Company, Guildford, after serving two years and seven months of active service”. It signed off: “Inserted by his friends Julia and Alex Stewart (on active service).”
William Kennedy, who was born in Collingwood in Melbourne and had worked as a stone mason on the Guildford Grammar School Chapel of St Mary and St George, also served at Gallipoli. He was wounded in action on 2 May, 1915 when a bullet hit his upper arm. He was evacuated and returned to active duty France where he was killed in action on 30 May 1916.
Horace Schofield fought in the trenches of the Somme in France through the harsh winter of 1916-17. He was wounded in action on 10 April 1917 after sustaining a gunshot wound to the head. He was repatriated to England, and then Australia.
With World War One over and as lives started to be re-built, The Woodbridge found a new owner. After a long run as publican, on 15 March 1920 a notice appeared in Perth’s Daily News that Jabez Penn had transferred the hotel’s licence to Alfred John Enright.
Alfred Enright was a well-known Western Australian identity. By the time he took over the Woodbridge he had for several years been publisher of The Daily News, based in St George Street, Perth. He was also proprietor of the Britannia Wine Saloon in William Street Perth at the time of his death in 1944.
The Woodbridge remains today an icon of Guildford and within its walls holds a long and proud history. Long may it continue to be the site of extraordinary stories.
